HR55, Sponsored by State Representative Jeanne Ives, was filed in response to the decision by the COD board to provide outgoing College President Dr. Robert Breuder with a $763,000 severance package in exchange for his early departure as College President.
Through the language in HR55, the COD will assume the costs associated with a detailed audit the covers the following:
- The College of DuPage’s sources of revenues
- College expenditures, by category
- Whether the Board is carrying out its responsibilities required by Board policy
- Whether the Board is meeting its fiduciary responsibilities and ensuring compliance with the Public Community College Act and Board Policies
- Whether the compensation and severance packages provided to the COD president are comparable to compensation and severance packages provided to Presidents of other Illinois Community Colleges
- Whether changes to the College President’s compensation package were properly approved
- An amendment approved prior to the final vote expanded the scope of the audit to include the COD Foundation’s actions in the investigation.
“The majority of the trustees were making some very bad decisions at the expense of the taxpayers who support the College of DuPage,” said Ives. “With the recent election, we now have several concerned taxpayers serving as COD trustees, and they are committed to unearthing the extent of the malfeasance and taking steps to prevent these types of problems from occurring in the future. I expect they will cooperate fully with the investigation.”
In addition to the lucrative contract buyout for Breuder, the media also uncovered information that showed that trustees, administrators and Breuder had enjoyed close to $200,000 in high end dining at the on-campus restaurant, and also spent more than $250,000 on a public relations blitz in the wake of the negative media coverage.
“When the COD trustees made that sweetheart deal with Dr. Breuder, they triggered a public outcry over the manner in which they were making decisions with taxpayer resources,” Ives said. “This detailed and comprehensive audit is an appropriate legislative response to what appears to be a long list of unethical decisions by that board. I look forward to reading the Auditor General’s final report.”